Epic Games has been touting the potential of an interoperable metaverse for years, though that idea has yet to become a reality. But with Unreal Engine 6, the next major version of its game development engine, Epic plans to take a big step toward that imagined future: it will allow developers to create games that can be used by players. Fortnite skins and will allow developers to create their own skins that work with it Fortnite.
“We face this problem first because we want to prove that things are going well with a system that is complex enough to be a valid proof of concept, and that comes naturally with the value of the player by respecting their purchase in the environment of the games,” Marcus Wassmer, Epic’s EVP of development, said in a blog linked to the Epic keynote State.
If this system could work and be widely accepted by developers, it would actually be great. I spent more money Fortnite skins than I care to admit, and I think it would be fun to wander around in non-games Fortnite with costumes like John Wick or my favorite Stormtrooper Samurai.
But for that to actually happen, developers will have to do the work to implement system support in their games, which is not a guarantee. They’ll probably need some kind of incentive to make the effort instead of just opening the back door to Epic. Fortnite ecosystem. And since Epic is targeting an early access release for Unreal Engine 6 by the end of 2027 — with a full release coming “after 12-18 months” — it will take some time before all the tools are in place for interested developers to even start using the enablement methods. Fortnite skins in their games.
This and everything is declared as Fortnite is facing some challenges, as Epic laid off more than 1,000 workers in March due to layoffs. Fortnite marriage. Fortnite it’s still popular — it has 75 million active users, Epic’s Hannah Lowry said on stage. But it’s not as big as it used to be, and Epic is trying to change things up with more game crossovers and a planned change to show a Roblox-like “Discover” screen with a variety of things when you start. Fortnite instead of putting you in the lobby. And the planned “continuing universe” of the epic that Disney is building still hasn’t come to fruition after being announced more than two years ago.
Epic is also getting a push against its AI generating system. This week, it detailed how it uses artificial intelligence to help craft the art of Fortniteand as part of the State of Unreal news, Epic said it will add an experimental MCP plugin to Unreal Engine to allow developers to connect LLMs to their projects to help with production assets and other aspects of development. On stage, Epic announced the lineup Fortnite a crossover featuring an indie song Vampire Survivorsbut Poncle, the game’s developer, said that due to “today’s news about the use of gen AI by Epic to create all kinds of [sic] of game assets, including Fortnite characters,” would be “updating” the interaction.
